LE MANS 24 HOURS: TEAM INFO GUIDE
by
Wolf Feather/Jamie Stafford
FEATHER7@IX.NETCOM.COM
Initial Version Completed: October 6, 2002
FINAL VERSION Completed: October 15, 2002
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CONTENTS
Spacing and Length
Permissions
Introduction
Team Information
Contact
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SPACING AND LENGTH
For optimum readability, this driving guide should be
viewed/printed using a monowidth font, such as Courier.
Check for appropriate font setting by making sure the numbers
and letters below line up:
1234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
This guide is more than 45 pages long in the Macintosh
version of Microsoft Word 98 using single-spaced Courier 12
font.
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PERMISSIONS
This guide may ONLY be posted on FeatherGuides, GameFAQs.com,
PSXCodez.com, F1Gamers, Cheatcc.com, Absolute-
PlayStation.com, InsidePS2Games.com, RedCoupe, gamesover.com,
CheatPlanet.com, The Cheat Empire, a2zweblinks.com, Gameguru,
GameReactors.com, cheatingplanet.com, vgstrategies.com,
CheatHeaven, IGN, hellzgate, Games Domain, RobsGaming.com,
ps2fantasy.com, and neoseeker.com.
Permission is granted to download and print one copy of this
game guide for personal use.
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INTRODUCTION
This guide is designed to provide readers with information
about the various racing teams included in Le Mans 24 Hours.
As a major part of the unlocking strategy of the game,
players must win or beat posted goal times in various game
modes in order to unlock most cars in the game - thus,
players cannot drive for most teams until the teams' car(s)
are unlocked. While the information contained in this guide
is not necessarily meant to assist with gameplay, it may be
useful information to some readers.
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TEAM INFORMATION
This section will present each team alphabetically, the
car(s) for each team, and some team information. In some
cases, teams use multiple cars of the same model; these are
differentiated by racing number in the game (but are not
listed here.
Audi Sport Team Joest
Cars - Audi R8
Web Site - http://www.audi.com/com/en/experience/
motorsport/background/team_joest/team_joest.jsp
Joest Racing was founded in 1978. Since , Reinhold Joest's
team has won a large number of important titles and races
- among them seven Le Mans 24 Hour triumphs in 1984, 1985,
1996, 1997, 2000, 2001 and 2002. Since Audi races the R8,
Joest Racing is preparing the cars.
Based at Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm, Audi Sport is
responsible for the ongoing development of the
Infineon Audi R8, Joest Racing in Germany's region
"Odenwald" for the racing. Both partners contribute
knowledge and their experience in all areas. "We
can only be strong together", knows Team Director
Reinhold Joest, who has already guided his team to
seven Le Mans victories. Prior to that Joest had
climbed the Le Mans podium also as a driver.
When Audi looked for a suitable team to run the Le
Mans 24 Hour race, Joest Racing was first choice.
Right from the start, Joest was involved in the
project of the Infineon Audi R8. The joint successes
at Le Mans and at the races of the American Le
Mans Series (ALMS) are the product of perfect team
work.
Audi Sport UK
Cars - Audi A8C
Web Site - http://www.audi.com/com/en/experience/
motorsport/background/audi_sport/audi_sport.jsp
Audi Sport can look back on a long-standing
tradition in motorsport, with experience in almost
every type of racing. No matter where the team
from Ingolstadt has competed, it has been
amongst the winners. Around 100 people are
employed by Audi Sport in Ingolstadt and
Neckarsulm. Here, under the leadership of Dr
Wolfgang Ullrich, the Infineon Audi R8 was also
developed.
Following Audi Sport tradition, everything is
developed in-house: from chassis to the 610 hp V8
twin-turbo power units. Success at Audi Sport is not
by chance, rather it is the result of immense
experience ­ in cooperation with reliable partners.
BMW Motorsport
Cars - BMW V12 LMR
Web Site - http://www.bmw-motorsport.com/session:
ca6p8ku1w1/ms/en/index.html
In 1954, BMW continued its motorsport activities with as
much enthusiasm and success as ever.
Alex Von Falkenhausen, BMW engine chief of the time and
friend of German motorsport legend Hans Joachim Stuck
still competes in races. Firstly with the BMW 507 V8
sportscar and more recently with the BMW 700. Soon
afterwards, a whole armada of BMW 700s would be competing
with great success in different motorsport categories.
Even at the age of 60, Hans Stuck continued his career in
the 700 and won the 1960 German hillclimb championship.
Then the mid-range BMW was launched, first as the BMW 1500
and later as the 1800 and 2000. Von Falkenhausen had
wanted to enter touring car racing for a long time, and
this car was perfectly suited to his plans. At this point
there was no separate motorsport department at BMW, so
the racing engines were developed in the same department
as the production engines. This allowed von Falkenhausen
to personally push the development programme forward.
The project proved to be another BMW motorsport success
story. Hubert Hahne won he 1964 German Circuit
Championship in a BMW 1800ti, while two years later Josef
Schnitzer took his BMW 2000ti to the German Touring Car
crown.
"Our activities of those days were far away from the
meticulously organised motorsport programme of today",
explains former BMW racing engine director Paul Rosche.
"In those days we carried out lots of experiments, working
mainly using the principle of 'trial and error'. There was
a motorsport budget at BMW, but we worked like real
privateers."
In between, engine designer Ludwig Apfelbeck is determined
to construct a four-valve engine for BMW. Supported by
Rosche he gained authorisation to design a 500cc single
cylinder engine.
"This engine already produced 57bhp," Rosche remembers.
"This meant 114bhp per litre, while our 1800 didn't
produce more than 90bhp per litre."
Von Falkenhausen was convinced by the concept and
instructed his engine specialists to build a two-litre
version for hillclimbs and a 1.6-litre version for Formula
2. With the BMW Brabham BT 7, he set up several world
records with the aid of a four-valve Apfelbeck engine. The
BMW Monti sportscar was used for hillclimbs.
In the following decades BMW was massively successful with
normally aspirated two and four valve engines in touring
car racing and Formula 2. At the same time, BMW was
entering a new era - the turbo era.
In 1968 Dieter Quester won the European Touring Car
Championship in a BMW 2002, but the competition was
getting stronger and stronger. In a bid to keep BMW at\
the top, Alex von Falkenhausen instructed his team of
engine experts to build a turbocharged engine for the 1969
season.
"We had never worked on turbo engines before," Paul Rosche
recalls. "This was a brand new experience for us. So we
took a turbocharger and installed it on one of our
production engines."
Three months, many experiments and many exploded engines
later, the first turbocharged BMW touring car made its
debut at Snetterton in England. This first race ended
with an early retirement, but the turbo principle proved
its worth during the course of the season and Quester duly
delivered another European Touring Car title, this time in
a BMW 2002 turbo.
It would be 1978 before the BMW turbo concept could
achieve more success. The German Racing Championship
regulations were opened up to allow turbo engines, albeit
restricted to 1.42 litres. Harald Ertl's BMW 320 Turbo
still produced a massive 550bhp however, and took the
championship in its very first year.
It was this engine that made BMW first think about Formula
1. The normally-aspirated three litre Cosworth engines
that dominated F1 at the time produced just 500bhp. In
1980 this idea became a serious project. A contract was
signed with Brabham, the team supplied BMW with a test car
and the development was intensified.
"We were travelling week-by-week from one track to the
next", Rosche says. "We had plenty of power right from the
start. But the driveability and the reaction of the engine
had to be improved."
Again BMW would pioneer the use of new technology during
the F1 test programme, using telemetry to improve
motorsport performance for the first time. At this point
electronic memory had not been created, so the reams of
data were printed out on paper. Only when a clever
electronic engineer developed the first electronic data
store were mountains of paper made a thing of the past.
Another innovation duly followed. Electronic engine
management was designed to cure the engine of its bad
habits and warn of impending problems. "A turbo engine
being run on poor fuel, or with too much turbo pressure
will soon start to struggle, and then it won't survive
much longer," explains Rosche.
The first analogue control unit was an instant improvement
over the existing technology, but the real breakthrough
came when electronics company Bosch supplied BMW with a
digital unit in 1981.
The turbocharged BMW F1 engine was finally ready to race
at the start of 1982. There were still plenty of problems
hampering the project however, and its future was put into
question when reigning champion Nelson Piquet's Brabham
BMW failed to qualify for the US Grand Prix in Detroit.
At the next grand prix in Montreal, Brabham designer
Gordon Murray wanted to abandon the turbo project. A
compromise was found: Piquet would continue with the BMW
turbo but his team-mate Riccardo Patrese would use the
normally-aspirated Cosworth. But the BMW was plagued by a
misfire throughout Friday and Saturday. Bernie Ecclestone,
then the boss of Brabham, demanded that Piquet's car was
also fitted with the Cosworth. BMW race director Dieter St
appert reacted in uncompromising style, threatening to
cancel the whole project if Ecclestone carried out his
threat. Ecclestone gave in, but during the Sunday warm-up
Piquet's engine continued to misfire. "So we checked the
engine, changed the complete electronics, and won the
race," recalls Rosche. "But we never really found out what
had gone wrong before and why it worked during the race."
At the end of the turbo era, there was a group at BMW that
wanted to keep on racing in Formula 1. The group was
headed by Paul Rosche and a member of the board, Dr
Wolfgang Reitzle. The F1 department was reduced, but a
group of 20 men called the 'E-90-Team' got the permission
to design a V12 engine conforming to the new 3.5-litre
regulations. Although it gave permission for the group to
carry out the work, the board still did not show great
interest, and the engine was used as a test-bed for new
developments.
The next major racing engine project was the BMW M3, which
was to race in series such as the German Touring Car
Championship (DTM). This project proved to be a huge
success. The car won championships around the world and
collected more than 50 titles. At the end of 1992 BMW
developed the BMW 320i for the new class two Super Touring
regulations. The car won 29 championship titles around the
world.
The 12-cylinder engine for the McLaren F1 sportscar was
also developed under the supervision of Paul Rosche. This
engine proved extraordinarily successful. It had such
reliability that most of the McLaren F1 GTRs entered in
the FIA GT Championship only needed a single engine change
during a complete season.
"At the beginning, we had planned to use our production
V12 with a four valve head," said Rosche. "But during the
course of the development it became a complete new engine,
only the distance of the cylinders stayed the same. This
engine wasn't supposed to be a race engine, that's why it
had to stand tough reliability tests in the development
phase. The power of the engine was heavily reduced by an
air restrictor. Without the air restrictor, the engine
would have produced some 800bhp for sure. But then it
wouldn't have been able to survive so long."
At the same time the Motorsport GmbH became the M GmbH,
which did not do much with the motorsport activities of
BMW. M GmbH was occupied with developing the sports
production models of BMW.
Then in 1995, a new motorsport company was founded -
Motorsport Limited. Paul Rosche, then the managing
director of the M GmbH, got the task of running the new
company. Two years later, a new BMW Formula 1 project was
launched.
"This meant that I had to solve three different tasks at
the same time," said Rosche. "The formation of Motorsport
Ltd, the design of a new F1 engine and the employment of
the new personnel that we needed."
Rosche did almost all the interviews himself and nearly
all the staff he employed were signed from other BMW
departments. Only 20 of the new Motorsport Ltd employees
were from outside the marque, and these newcomers all
brought with them fresh F1 experience and knowledge.
Rather than entering a full works team and designing both
the car and engine in-house, BMW opted to become an engine
partner with the WilliamsF1 team. The new engine first hit
the track in 1999 and made its race debut at the start of
2000.
The goal for the first year was simply to finish races and
gather information. Despite these cautious objectives, the
new BMW WilliamsF1 Team finished on the podium in its
first race - one of the most successful debuts made by a
manufacturer in grand prix history. By the end of the
season, the team had clinched third place in the
constructors' championship.
Bonnet Didier
Cars - Debora LMP2000-BMW
Web Site - Unable to find information online
Carsport Holland
Cars - Chrysler Viper GTS-R
Web Site - http://www.hezemans.nl/GT2001/NL/index.htm
Unfortunately, this site is entirely in Dutch... a
language I cannot read :-(
Chamberlain Engineering
Cars - Chrysler Viper GTS-R
Web Site - http://www.chamberlain.cc/history.htm
Hugh Chamberlain, a former policeman in the UK, spent six
years working for the Radial motor component manufacturing
company before forming Chamberlain Engineering in 1972.
The company concentrated on repairing and servicing
commercial engines and raced a Jaguar XK120 for fun.
Later Hugh bought a Cooper-Jaguar, then a Mallock U2 Mk6,
which he raced until 1982.
As a result of the Clubman's racing, Chamberlain
Engineering, as the team was known until 1999, initially
began preparing racecars for young men in the UK like Will
Hoy, Creighton Brown and Nick Adams each of whom went on
to successful careers in motorsport.
But Hugh found it increasingly difficult to both compete
and run a race team and so concentrated his efforts on
running the team.
Since 1985 the team has competed in a number of endurance
formulas, winning 2 World Championships, the C2 class Le
Mans 24 hour race and nine National Championships.
Since 1999, Jack Cunningham has been Chief Executive, and
with the Team under new ownership and with a new
management team in place Hugh Chamberlain subsequently
left the company.
The Team's management and technical expertise has been
strengthened considerably with new appointments being made
at all levels. The Team has prospered as a result,
participating successfully in major international
endurance events around the world.
The Team were runners-up in the 1999 FIA GT Championship,
the first non-manufacturer Team at Daytona in 2000 and, in
2001, were selected to test and race the MG EX257 cars at
Le Mans and other events on behalf of the manufacturer for
two seasons.
With the organisation now having been involved in motor
racing for over 25 years, it is acknowledged as one of the
world's most experienced sports car and GT racing teams.
Corvette Racing
Cars - Chevrolet Corvette C5-R
Web Site - http://www.corvetteracing.net/race_history/
race_history_set.htm
Corvette Racing's latest addition to its stable, the
Corvette C5-R, continues a decade long tradition of
exciting Corvette road racers. Under the guiding hand of
engineering genius Zora Arkus-Duntov, Chevrolet first
thrust its sports car into competition in 1956.
In 1960 a trio of Corvettes was brought to Le Mans by team
owner Brigs Cunningham. With a remarkable demonstration of
endurance and speed, the #3 car, driven by John Fitch and
Bob Grossman, finished eighth overall, well ahead of many
of the finest sports and all-out racing cars of the era.
The third-generation Corvette, introduced in 1968,
continued the winning ways of its predecessors. In fact,
Corvettes were totally dominant in the late 60's and 70's,
winning sixteen SCCA national A-and B-Production titles
and finishing as high as third overall at both Daytona and
Sebring.
In the Late 70's and early 80's Corvettes went Trans-Am
racing and though the competition was formidable,
Corvettes continued to finish in front. In addition to
racing in production classes as it had done for decades, a
more exotic Corvette-based car took to the track in the
late 80's. The incredible IMSA GTP Corvettes reached
speeds well in excess of 200 mph by virtue of their 1200
horsepower, turbocharged Chevrolet engines and thrilled
fans from coast to coast.
In the early 90's Corvettes were again provided an
opportunity to race against and defeat some of the world's
most sophisticated and most expensive cars in the
Bridgestone Potenza Super Car Series. Corvette once again
set new marks for speed and durability.
For 2001 Chevrolet introduced the new ZO6, a production
vehicle with 385-hp and 385-ft.lbs. of torque that's ready
for the racetrack. Based on the former hardtop model
already the lightest, stiffest and quickest corvette- it
is a car aimed directly at the diehard performance
enthusiasts at the upper end of the high-performance
market.
Courage Competition
Cars - Courage C 52
Web Site - http://www.sportscarchampionship.com/cgi-bin
entrantsdetails.cgi?category=teams&ID
Courage+Competition
Between 1982 et 2001, Courage has left his mark on the
history of the Le Mans 24 Hours, with notably :
- The record number of entries by a French car maker (47)
- Two winner stands: 3rd in 1987, 2nd in 1995.
His cars have crossed the finish line twenty-two times,
thirteen times ranked in the top ten. An overview of
the teamıs racing highlights:
1982 The first Courage-Ford Cosworth entered in Le Mans.
1985 First year with a Porsche engine.
1987 First winnerıs stand in Le Mans (3rd place of C 20
Porsche).
1989 Le Mans : win in the C2 category, after 20 years of
British supremacy. Entry in the Protoype Sport
Championship
1990 Entry in the Protoype Sport Championship
1991 Entry in the Protoype Sport Championship
1992 Entry in the Daytona 24 Hours. Le Mans : 6th place.
1994 Le Mans : pole position and 7th place.
1995 Courage officially represents Porsche in Le Mans, and
registers his best result to date : 2nd (1er in
prototype).
1996 Entry in the Daytona 24 Hours. Le Mans : 7th
Start of customer program.
1997 Entry in the ISRS championship. 2 pole positions and
1 win.Le Mans : 4th (2nd prototype).
1998 Nissan partnership (engines)
1999 Le Mans : 3 Courage chassis on the starting line and
3 at the finish : 6th
8th (only Nissan mechanics to finish), and 9th .
2000 Le Mans : 4th place of a Courage Peugeot (Pescarolo
Sport)
2001 3 Courage chassis entered in Le Mans (2 Pescarolo
Sport, 1 SMG).
Pescarolo-Sport wins at Estoril and Magny-Cours, 2nd
place in Nürburgring ( FIA championship).
2002 FIA Sportscar Championship and Le Mans 24 Hours.
Freisinger Motorsport
Cars - Porsche 911 GT2
Web Site - http://www.superracingweekends.com/
fiagtmg2002/Teams/FreisingerMotorsport.htm
1993 2nd in the Nürburgring 24 Hours
1994 BPR GT Series; 2nd at Paul Ricard
1995 Le Mans with Porsche 993 biturbo, 19th
1996 BPR GT Series
1997 FIA GT Championship
1998 GTR series, 2 wins. GT2 class winner at Petit Le
Mans.
1999 2nd at 12 Hours of Sebring; winner of the Suzuka
1000km; 3rd and 1st Porsche in FIA GT Championships,
including 3rd at Monza
2000 4th in FIA GT Championship Teams Classification:
winner at the Lausitzring, 2nd at Monza. 2nd in ELMS
at Silverstone and 1000km Suzuka
2001 3rd overall at Rolex 24 Daytona. 2nd, 24 Hours of Le
Mans, LM GT; 3rd, FIA GT Championship, N-GT
Classification - second at Spa, Austria, Nürburgring
and Zolder
GTC Competition
Cars - LMGTP
Web Site - http://www.gtc-mirage.com/NewFiles/intro.html
Upon the request of the Ferrari Factory, Grand Touring
Cars, Inc. (GTC, Inc.) was first incorporated in Chicago,
Illinois in 1972, by Harley E. Cluxton III, who became the
youngest exclusive Authorized Ferrari Dealer in the United
States. It relocated to Phoenix, Arizona in 1973, and the
dealership has been in Scottsdale, Arizona ever since.
GTC, Inc. was awarded the Lamborghini importership for the
Western United States from 1973 through 1977.
In late 1975 John Wyer, the guru of LeMans (with World
Championships for Aston Martin, Porsche, Ford, and Mirage)
approached Mr. Cluxton as to whether he would be
interested in purchasing his Mirage Team from the Gulf Oil
Corporation in Pittsburgh. Mr. Cluxton had competed
against John while he was racing for Ferrari and had
struck up a close friendship with both John and his
drivers. Mr. Cluxton purchased the Mirage Team from Gulf
in early 1976. By June of 1976, he had become a team
owner, hired John as a consultant, retired from driving,
hired drivers, found the sponsorship and achieved team
finishes of 2nd and 5th behind the factory 936 Porsche!
Mr. Cluxton directed the extremely successful GTC-Mirage
two-car team from 1976-1982 in the F.I.A. World Sportscar
Championship. In 1982, Mario and Michael Andretti, sixth
on the grid out of 58 cars, the only American owned,
American manufactured and American driven Group C car was
excluded 20 minutes before the start of the race for a 2
centimeter infraction. The Mirage team has not been back
to Le Mans since. But that is not to say GTC has been
dormant in the world racing arena. Quite the opposite.
GTC developed and manufactured 2.65 c.i. turbo charged
Indy motors for Renault. We continue to represent,
unabated from 1978, Formula 1 drivers, CART drivers and
selected Sportscar drivers in sponsorship, legal and
management matters. We have and continue to provide these
services to major Formula 1 teams, CART teams,
manufactures and Fortune 500 corporations.
Jaguar
Cars - Jaguar XJR9 LM
Web Site - http://www.jaguar-racing.com/
Jaguar Racing extends a long and distinguished motorsport
tradition with its entry into the 2002 Formula One World
Championship. The company has been involved in motorsport
since it was founded in 1922. Seven times it has won the
world's toughest endurance race at Le Mans, been World
Sports Car Champions three times and in 1956 won both Le
Mans and the Monte Carlo Rally in the same year.
The roll call of drivers who have raced Jaguars during the
past 50 years reads like a Who's Who of motorsport. In the
Fifties, Mike Hawthorn, Paul Frere, Duncan Hamilton and
Stirling Moss were regulars with the Jaguar team. Jackie
Stewart (and brother Jimmy), Sir Jack Brabham, Briggs
Cuningham and Graham Hill all drove Jaguars during
successful racing careers. In more recent times, Martin
Brundle, Tom Walkinshaw, Derek Warwick, Patrick Tambay,
John Watson, Eddie Cheever and Jan Lammers all drove for
Jaguar.
The lessons learned on the race tracks will benefit the
Company's customers around the world as Jaguar prepares to
expand its model range. This will extend the appeal of the
marque to new sectors of the premium car market.
JMB Competition
Cars - LMP
Web Site - http://www.superracingweekends.com/
FIAGTmg/Teams/JMBCompetition.htm
1997 FIAGT Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans with a
Porsche 911 GT1
1998 winner of the Sports Racing World Cup with Emmanuel
Collard and Vincenzo Sospiri, in a Ferrari 333 SP,
and the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1999 winner of the Sports Racing World Cup with Emmanuel
Collard and Vincenzo Sospiri, in a Ferrari 333 SP,
and the 24 Hours of Le Mans
2000 Winner of the Sports Racing World Cup with David
Terrien and Christian Pescatori, in a Ferrari 333
SP; selected rounds of the FIA GT Championship with
two Ferrari Modena 360s; 2nd in the N-GT category of
the 6 Hours of Vallelunga with a Ferrari Modena 360
2001 FIA N-GT Champions, 5 wins; Champion of the FFSA
category in the FFSA French GT Championship; winner
of the N-GT category of the Vallelunga 6 Hours with
a Ferrari Modena 360
Joest Racing
Cars - LMP
Web Site - http://www.joest-racing.de/
Reinhold Joest's eyes are gleaming when he reports from
the 24 hours of Le Mans. "For me, Le Mans is the biggest
challenge existing in motorsports." He knows what he is
talking about: Scarcely anybody knows the perfidies of the
French classic long-distance race as well as him. Joest
has experienced the race as driver and as a team owner.
The numerous victories are the results of meticulous
preparations. "Everyone asks for the mystery of Joest
Racing", says Reinhold Joest. "But there is no mystery.
Everything that counts are perfect preparations, ideal
manpower planning and the right strategy. The basic
requirement is a steady car. The team has to work
perfectly, the drivers must not make mistakes."
In the years 1996 and 1997 everything worked right in the
Joest Racing team: With an open Porsche sports car
prototype, the Joest team managed to take the checkered
flag twice in a row. Thus being the second 1-2 victory
after the years 1984 and 1985 - at this time with the
Porsche 956.
The team's strength is based on a long-lasting experience.
The bulk of the crew, which attended the group C-Porsche
cars in the 80ies, is still on board. "The core crew is
the same", proudly says Reinhold Joest, who is looking
back on over 20 years as a race driver. "For this reason
the important know-how and many rules of thumb get stuck
in the team.
Johansson Matthews Racing
Cars - Reynard 2KQ-Judd
Web Site - Unable to find information online
Konrad Motorsport
Cars - GT2
Lola B2K10-Ford
Porsche 911 GT2
Web Site - http://www.konradmotorsport.com/
Konrad Motorsport was founded by Franz Konrad in 1976
and is now based in Verl, Germany, where Konrad and his
engineers, mechanics, and administrative staffs oversee
the production of high-class racecars, including Porsche,
Lamborghini, Lola, and Saleen which are prepared for
numerous racing series.
Kremer Racing
Cars - LMP
Web Site - http://www.kremer-racing.net/
2000 - Participant at the European Le Mans Series and the
Sportsracing Worldcup with the Lola B98/K2000 ,
Winner of the last World-Cup-Race in Kyalami with
Gary Formato and Ralf Kelleners
1999 - Participant at the International Sports Racing
Series (ISRS), 30 years Le Mans with the Lola
B98/10 with Roush-Ford-Power
1998 - 2nd Sportsprototype in Le Mans (12.th overall)
Participant at the ISRS with the K8 Sypder
1997 - Overall-Winner of the 1000km Monza with the Kremer
Spyder K8. Participant at the FIA-GT-Championship
with Porsche GT1 and GT2
1996 - Participant at the 24h Le Mans & the BPR-Series,
Winner of the 4h of Le Mans, international GT-Race
of Shah Alam & the Oldtimer Grand Prix at the
Nürburgring
1995 - Winner of the 24h of Daytona with the Kreme
Porsche Spyder K8 (Jürgen Lässig, Christophe
Bouchut, Giovanni Lavaggi & Marco Werner), Porsche-
Works supported participation at the 24h Le Mans
(K8) : 6th overall. Participant at the BPR
Championship with Porsche 911 GT2
1994 - Kremer Racing is Honda-Worksteam, Vice-Champion in
the ADAC-GT-Cup, 25 years of Kremer Racing in Le
Mans: 3 Honda NSX GT in the team & at the finish
line! Additional 6.th overall with Kremer Porsche
Spyder K8
1993 - Interserie-Champion with Giovanni Lavaggi,
Interserie Vice Champion with Thomas Saldana, both
on Kremer Porsche K7
1992 - Interserie-Champion with Manuel Reuter on Kremer
Porsche Spider K7, Vice-Champion in the Porsche Cup
1991 - Best Porsche-team in the Group C Sportscar
Championship
1990 - Winner of Porsche-Cup & Interserie Champion with
Bernd Schneider, 6.th in the Group C Championship\
1989 - 2.nd in Porsche-Cup and in Interserie, 3.rd in
Japanese Endurance-championship, 8.th in the Group
C Championship
1988 - 3.rd in Porsche-Cup and Interserie, 3.rd in
Japanese Endurance-championship, 8.th in the Group
C Championship, Mario and Michael Andretti are
Kremer-Racing Team-pilots
1987 - Winner of Porsche Cup with Volker Weidler, 6.th in
the Group C Championship, 5th. in Super-Cup, 4.th
in Interserie, 7th in All Japan Sportscar
Championship
1986 - Participation at the Group C Sportscar World
Championship, Supercup & Interserie
1985 - Winner of 1000km in Monza (Group C) and 200 Meiles
of Norisring
1984 - Winner of the 200 Meiles of Norisring with Manfred
Winkelhock
1983 - With Alan Jones, Mario Andretti and Keke Rosberg 3
former F1-Champions as Kremer-Team-drivers. Mario
and Mike Andretti, & Phillipe Alliot gain a 3rd
overall at Le Mans
1982 - Vice-Champion in the german Racecar-Championship
1981 - Winner of Porsche-Cup with Bob Wollek, Vice
Champion and best Porsche in the german Racecar
Championship
1980 - A customer- Kremer Porsche 935 K3 winns IMSA
championship and Porsche Cup
1979 - Overall-Winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans with
Kremer Porsche K3 and Klaus Ludwig, Bill & Don
Whittington, Winner of the german Racecar
Championship and Porsche-Cup with Klaus Ludwig
1978 - Winner of Porsche-Cup with Bob Wollek, Krremer
helps Porsche to win World Championship for makes,
Group 5 -class winner in Le Mans with Porsche 935
and the drivers Jim Busby, Rick Knoop and Chris
Cord.
1977 - Winner of Porsche-Cups with Bob Wollek, Vice
Champion of german Racesportchampionship, Group 4
class-win in Le Mans with Porsche 934 and Bob
Wollek, Phillipe Gurdjian and "Steve"
1976 - Winner of Porsche Cup with Bob Wollek, best
Porsche-team of german Racesportchampionship
1975 - Best Porsche-team of german Racesportchampionship
1974 - Winner of Porsche-Cup and GT-Europe-championship
with John Fitzpatrick
1973 - Winner of Porsche-Cup and GT-Europe-championship
with Clemens Schickendanz
1972 - Winner of Porsche-Cup and GT-Europe-championship
with John Fitzpatrick
1971 - Winner of Porsche-Cup with Erwin Kremer, winner in
5. International 1000km-Races
1970 - GT-Winner in the 3000ccm-class with Erwin Kremer
and Nicolas Koob on Porsche 911S at the 24h of Le
Mans
1969 - Helped to win the GT-Worldcup for Porsche
1968 - Winner of Europe-Touringcar-championship with Erwin
Kremer on Porsche
La Filiere ELF
Cars - Courage C 36
Web Site - Unable to find information online
Lancia
Car: Lancia LC2
Web Site - http://www.lancia.com/
History section not currently online
Larbre Competition
Cars - GT2
Web Site - http://www.larbre-competition.com/
Founded in 1998 by Jack Leconte, Leconte was able to
create and develop the Larbre Competition team even while
overseeing his own transport and logistic company. In
2000, Leconte decided to devote himself full-time to auto
racing to secure the position of the team as a major
player in motorsport.
Mopar Team Oreca
Cars - Reynard 2KQ-Mopar
Web Site - http://www.orecaracing.com/
No history available on this French-language site
Multimatic Motorsports
Cars - Lola B2K40-Nissan
Web Site - http://www.multimatic.com/
Multimatic Motorsports has enjoyed significant success
since its inception in 1992. Two Canadian national
championships, strong debuts in all new endeavours and a
continuous string of podium finishes has established
Multimatic Motorsports as a leading North American racing
organization.
Scott Maxwell is the teamıs lead driver and brings a
wealth of motor racing experience, in a wide range of
classes and formulae, to the organization. Scott was part
of the group that conceived Multimatic Motorsports and he
continues to play a prominent role in the planning and
organization of the team. He is also a key member of
Multimaticıs ride and handling development organization
that offers services to the global automotive industry.
Newcastle Lister Storm
Cars - Lister Storm GTL
Web Site - http://www.listerstorm.com/
The first Lister sports racer was designed in 1954 by
Brian Lister,and the cars competed against Jaguar D-types
and Aston Martins throughout the 1950ıs. The ı54 season
initially featured a Lister MG, which scored five wins and
eight second places in the hands of Archie Scott-Brown.
This was followed in June of that year by the Lister
Bristol, which won its class in the supporting race to the
British Grand Prix ahead of the works Jaguars and Aston
Martins. A further 13 victories were recorded that year.
Scott-Brown went on to dominate the British sports-racing
car season in 1957, winning 11 out of 14 races in total
and the prestigious British Empire Trophy Race, aboard a
Lister Jaguar. Just to underline its place in the history
books, Archieıs Lister Jaguar also notched up many lap
records on his successful rampage.
As a result of this success Brian Lister attracted
customer orders for an improved 1958 version of the car,
which conformed to international regulations; this car was
to be known as the Knobblyı Lister-Jaguar (a Centenary
Edition of this car was built to celebrate 100 years of
the Lister company in a joint venture between Brian and
current Lister helmsman, Laurence Pearce, in 1990).More
success followed with Stirling Moss winning the support
race for the British Grand Prix and Lister Chevrolets
dominating the American sportscar scene. This year also
marked the debut of Lister Jaguar at Le Mans, where two
cars competed in the French classic and one placed 15th.
Lister Jaguar returned to Le Mans a year later, again with
a two car squad. Glory was not to come their way, however,
as both cars retired with engine problems. The lead car
showed that the British racing combination had unfinished
business at Le Mans, however, as it was running in fourth
place at the time of its retirement.
From 1959 until the early 1980ıs, Lister Cars retired from
competitive racing. However, the name was revived
following the involvement of engineer Laurence Pearce and
a new car was designed to take part in a series of races
for Jaguar sports cars known as the Lister Challenge.
During this decade Laurence, in association with Brian
Lister, was responsible for the rebirth of the company as
a producer of performance road cars. This then led to the
design in 1991 of an all-new supercar, as opposed to the
Jaguar conversions that had previously been produced under
the Lister name; the Storm.
With the Storm road car being launched in 1993, Laurence
and Lister then had the perfect machine to rekindle the
works Lister Cars racing team of the 1950ıs. The emergence
of GT racing as the worldıs top sportscar arena over the
past few years had provided ideal timing for a Lister
Storm GT1 contender to return to the international
competition stage. Now Lister has the experience of three
Le Mans 24 Hours, three Daytona 24 Hours, selected races
in the 1996 BPR International GT Series where the car
always ran in a podium position, the 1997 and 1998 BRDC
Privilege Insurance GT Championships (finishing second in
the GT1 Championship in 1998), the American SportsCar
racing series and the FIA Global GT Championship.
In 1999 the Storm won both classes of the Privilege
Insurance GT Championships with Julian Bailey and Jamie
Campbell-Walter in the GT1 car and David Warnock in the
GT2 car. Julian Bailey and Jamie Campbell-Walter also won
the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy and the Oulton
Park Gold Cup. Julian and Jamie won seven out of the
eleven British rounds, David Warnock won all six races
entered in the Lister Storm GT2. The Storm GT2 also
competed in four rounds of the FIA Championship achieving
2 pole positions and one 2nd position on the grid,
finishing 2nd at Donington, 3rd at Zolder and 4th at
Hockenheim. Thorkilld Thyrring won the Danish Grand Prix
in a Lister Storm and Peter Hardman and Nicolaus Springer
came 2nd in the final two races of the Spanish GT
Championship.
Nissan Motorsports
Cars - Nissan R390, Nissan R391
Web Site - http://www.nismo.co.jp/
Unfortunately, this site is entirely in Japanese... a
language I cannot read :-(
Panoz Motorsports
Cars - Panoz Esperante GTR
Panoz LMP Spyder
Panoz LMP-1
Panoz LMP07
Web Site - http://www.panozmotorsports.com/
1997
Formed by entrepreneurial businessman, Donald E Panoz,
and based in Braselton, Georgia alongside the Road
Atlanta track.
Four Panoz GTR-1 cars were designed and developed for
the company by Reynard Motorsportıs special projects
division, RSVP. One was run in the Professional Sports
Car Series by Panoz, and three were represented in the
FIA GT Championship by two teams ­ the French DAMS and
British DPR teams. The front-engined cars with the
rumbling 6.0 liter Ford V8 engines attracted a great
deal of attention.
Victory at Road Atlanta in the teamıs second ever race,
2nd place overall in the Manufacturersı points
standings in the US PRSCC.
First time at the Le Mans 24 Hour race ­ retired due to
mechanical failure after 17 hours while running in the
top ten.
1998
Two GTR-1s entered in the two leading US sports car
series and one in the FIA GT Championship, run by DAMS.
Multiple class victories and winners of the Team and
Drivers Championship titles in the Professional Sports
Car series.
At the pre-qualifying sessions for the Le Mans 24
Hours, an electric-hybrid version of the GTR-1 ­ the
Panoz Q9 - was entered. Unfortunately the car was not
among those to line up on the grid for the race itself.
First running of the 10-hour Petit Le Mans event at
Road Atlanta. Q9 was entered with the two factory GTR
1s and finished 2nd in the GT1 class ­ the first
electric hybrid vehicle to race in an international
event.
1999
The Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S, new open-cockpit cars, run
in the American Le Mans Series ­ a new racing series
founded by Don Panoz using ACO (Le Mans) regulations.
Victories at Mosport Park, Portland and the Petit Le
Mans races.
Winners of the Teams and Manufacturersı Championship
titles, David Brabham and Eric Bernard 2nd in Driversı
points standings.
2000
Using an evolution version of the LMP-1 Roadster S, the
team continue in the American Le Mans Series powered by
Elan Power 6L8 engines, built and prepared by Panozıs
own engine company, Elan Power Products. Panoz chassis
have also been sold as customer cars for entry at the
Le Mans 24 Hour race and the Sportsracing World Cup
Series.
Victory at the Nurburgring in Germany, 3rd place in the
Teams and Manufacturers Championships.
2001
Introduction at the beginning of the year of the all
new Panoz LMP 07 prototype powered by the Panoz V8 4
liter engine. After six months of technical troubles
and unreliability, the decision was taken after the 24
Hours of Le Mans in June to re-introduce the 2000 LMP-1
Roadster. Since that time, the team took two victories,
plus a 2nd and 3rd placing.
Paul Belmondo Racing
Cars - Chrysler Viper GTS-R
Web Site - http://www.paul-belmondo-racing.com/
Web site currently under reconstruction
Pescarolo Sport
Cars - Courage C 52-Peugeot
Web Site - http://www.pescarolo.com/
Web site does not contain historical information on the
team
Peugeot Talbot Sport
Cars - Peugeot 905
Web Site - http://www.peugeot-avenue.com/
A generalist manufacturer, Peugeot has always been
involved in motor racing and has for the last fifteen
years or so demonstrated the importance of high level
sport for its image.
Crowned World Rally Champion twice, in 1985 and 1986, with
the 205 Turbo 16, the Lion trademark dominated long
distance rallying from 1987 to 1990.
Turning to the motor racing circuits, Peugeot won the Le
Mans 24 hours in 1992 and 1993, and was crowned World
Champion in the 1992 Sports Car championships with the
905. Entering F1 in 1993 as an engine manufacturer,
Peugeot partnered McLaren, Jordan then Prost Grand Prix.
Supplying an engine considered to be one of the best in
F1, Peugeot did not however obtain the results it had
hoped for and withdrew from F1 in 2000, directing its
efforts to running the totally new 206 WRC in the World
Rally Championship, with which it scooped the dual crown
of World Champion Constructor and Driver in 2000, its
first full year of competition.
Pilot Racing
Cars - LMP
Web Site - http://www.pilotrc.ee/
Unfortunately, this site is entirely in a Scandinavian
language I cannot read :-(
Riley & Scott Europe
Cars - Riley & Scott MKIII S2
Web Site - http://www.rileyscott.com/
Riley & Scott was founded in May 1990 with a contract for
a single Trans-Am chassis. Today, more than seventy-five
complete racing cars have been delivered to loyal
customers. It began with George Robinson, a Texas-based
businessman/driver who bought the first Mk I Trans-am
chassis, and also bought the first Hunter (the Mk II), and
a Mk III and a Mk III C, to earn a place in the customer
Hall of Fame.
General Motors began its long involvement with R&S by
purchasing Mk I chassis nos. 2, 3 and 5. In its first
season, the Mk I began its domination with the first of
three successive championships. Scott Sharp won in 1991
and 1993; Jack Baldwin won in 1992. Between 1991 and 1997,
40 of the Mk I chassis were built and sold, and the
company was established as a brand in major professional
road racing.
R&S began racing as a company in 1996. Before that, the
company supported its customers in Trans-Am and World
Sports Car, but did not race its own products.
That changed when GM tapped R&S to introduce its Aurora
4.0 L engine to World Sports Car competition. In 1995, the
R&S MK III began a hugely successful run that continues
today. The first customer was Dyson Racing, which used
Ford power.
In February 1996, R&S and Doyle Racing debuted for GM at
the "Rolex 24 at Daytona" in spectacular fashion. Drivers
Wayne Taylor, Jim Pace and Scott Sharp brought home Mk III
chassis no. 004 first in the closest race ever at Daytona.
After 24 hours, Wayne brought the car home less than one
minute in front of a Ferrari 333 SP driven by Max Papis.
At the 1996 Twelve Hours of Sebring a month later, the
team steamrollered to its second straight endurance
classic win. Wayne Taylor, Jim Pace, and endurance maestro
Eric van de Poele combined for the win. Competing against
the Ferraris and a number of customer Mk IIIs, the factory
effort won again at Texas World Speedway on May 5th. After
a third-place at Watkins Glen, the team flew to France for
the 24 hours of Lemans with high hopes. These were brought
to earth by a gearbox failure in the 14th hour.
The team returned to the US and won again that year at
Sears Point. Wayne Taylor finished 1996 as the IMSA World
Champion sports car driver. Between the Dyson team and the
factory effort, R&S Mk IIIs won 7 of the 10 races for the
championship.
In 1997, the factory effort returned as a two-car team.
Peruvian ace Eduardo Dibos had purchased chassis no. 006,
and R&S ran that car and the Doyle Racing entry. The
season was a disappointment however, as the Aurora motors
that had been so reliable the year before suddenly began
to experience mechanical failures. At Daytona, the
defending champion had a three-lap lead at 3 a.m. when the
motor self destructed (the Dibos car finished third in the
race, which was won by Dyson Racingıs Mk III). In the
eleven-round championship, the teamıs best finish was a
second at Pikes Peak International Raceway in September.
As the success of the Mk I attracted attention, other
opportunities arose. Long-time sports car team owner Rob
Dyson asked R&S to improve his Spice/Ferrari WSC car in
1994. The experience gave him the confidence to order two
of the Mk III WSC prototypes Bob Riley was ready to
design.
Ready because WSC was the perfect opportunity for the
company. Created as a reaction to the collapse of the IMSA
GTP class when manufacturers (Nissan, Toyota, Jaguar)
determined GTP no longer met their marketing goals, WSC
was designed to make prototype sports car competition
affordable for "privateer" entrants like Dyson Racing.
The car debuted in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in February
1995. After DNFs at Daytona and Sebring, it began a string
of successes against the Ferrari 333 SP and other rivals
that continues even today. From round 3 of the IMSA
championship at Road Atlanta to the season finale at New
Orleans, a Dyson Mk III won 5 of the 8 races and finished
on the podium in every race.
Following the factory teamıs win at Daytona in 1996, the
Dyson team won the race in 1997, and followed that with a
second at Sebring. The Dyson team won four of the eight
rounds of the IMSA series and the team and driverıs
championship (Butch Leitzinger) that year.
In 1998, six Mk IIIs took the green at Daytona, but the
Ferrari 333SP scored its first and only 24 hour win in
that event. Jim Matthews, Intersport, Transatlantic
Racing, Support Net Racing, and BMW Team Rafanelli all
competed in various events in Mk IIIs that year. The BMW
Team Rafanelli entry won its first event, at Laguna Seca
in October.
Despite the increased competition, the Dyson Team remained
dominant, winning the Team and Driverıs Championships
(Butch Leitzinger, again) in the USRRC Can-Am series.
A WSC series known as the ISRS (International Sports
Racing Series) began in 1998, and grew into the FIA Sports
Car Championship by 2001. Bill Riley had established Riley
& Scott Europe in 1998 to service the growing number of
customers in that series. As many as four R&S Mk IIIs
started ISRS events that year, fielded by Solution F,
Target 24, and BMW Team Rafanelli.
After the Rafanelli car secured the Mk IIIıs first
European pole in the 5th of eight rounds, the Solution F
car, piloted by Gary Formato and Jerome Pollicand, won the
final race of the year at Kylami in South Africa.
In August 1997, the company introduced its first IRL
chassis, the Mk V. Two of the cars raced in the final IRL
event of 1997 at Las Vegas, driven by owner/driver Stan
Wattles and Mike Shank for Neinhouse Racing. The winner of
that event was Eliseo Salazar, who even then was in
negotiations with R&S to race the Mk V in a factory effort
in 1998.
That team was sponsored by Reebok. R&S brought the shoe
giant to the IRL in the Leagueıs first non-automotive
primary sponsorship. The season reached its zenith on the
morning of Pole Day, May 15, 1998. After a promising week
of practice for the Memorial Day classic, Salazar was 5th
quickest in the morning warm-up, with a realistic chance
for the pole later that day.
The afternoon brought disaster. Eliseo crashed hard in
turn one on the first lap of what should have been a four
lap qualifying run. Not seriously injured, Salazar
returned to the track for practice in the backup car just
hours later. But the damage was done, and the teamıs
backup qualified weakly on Bump Day. At 5:43 PM that day,
Billy Roe bumped Salazar from the field and the season was
effectively over.
At Dover in July, Salazar was severely injured in a
practice crash. He recovered well and is still a force in
the IRL today.
After Reebok, the team found support from Brant
Motorsports. The Brants were West Virginia-based aviation
and real estate entrepreneurs with a background as NASCAR
sponsors. They bought the team cars and motors after the
1998 season in preparation for the 1999 campaign.
1999 was more successful, in that driver Raul Boesel
qualified for and finished 12th in the Indy 500 that year.
When GM ended the Aurora program in 1997, two others were
in the works. The Corvette C-5R began testing in 1998 and
first raced at Daytona in 1999. Those cars were built by
and have been raced very successfully by Pratt & Miller
Engineering. However, R&S played a role in the development
of the car and throughout its first season on the track.
Bill Riley managed a hand-picked crew from R&S to race one
of the two cars at Daytona, Sebring, and Petit Lemans that
year.
R&S was already building the first Cadillac Northstar LMP
prototype in 1999. That car first tested in September 1999
and debuted at Daytona in February of 2000. After
exhibiting typical teething issues at Daytona, the cars
struggled for results against the dominant Audis at
Sebring and Lemans.
In its fifth appearance in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the Mk
III reached a high water mark. Eight cars, with a total of
thirty drivers, took the green. Two new teams, TRV
Motorsport and Hybrid R&D, entered the race. At the
checker, Dyson Racingıs chassis 002 took the win, driven
by Andy Wallace, Elliot Forbes-Robinson, and team owner
Rob Dyson.
American sports car racing remained splintered that year.
The American Lemans Series and the USRRC both staged
championships again. For the first and only time, one
driver, Dysonıs Elliot Forbes-Robinson, won both. The
Dyson team also won the USRRC championship.
Sebring in 1999 also set a record for Mk III
participation. Eleven chassis started the race, which
marked the debut of Robinson Racing as well as new entries
from Nygmatech, Autoexe, and the Whittington Brothers.
After 12 hours, Dysonıs chassis 002 was second to the
winning BMW by the closest margin in the long history of
that race.
Team Rafanelli also won that year, at Road Atlanta with
drivers Eric van de Poele and Mimo Schiattarella. This
time, the car was powered by a Judd engine.
In Europe, four chassis competed regularly in the ISRS.
Nicola Larini in the Target 24 Judd-powered posted the
best finish, a second, after winning the pole at Pergusa.
Three R&S also started at Lemans that year, but all
retired early with motor problems.
When GM ended the Aurora program in 1997, two others were
in the works. The Corvette C-5R began testing in 1998 and
first raced at Daytona in 1999. Those cars were built by
and have been raced very successfully by Pratt & Miller
Engineering. However, R&S played a role in the development
of the car and throughout its first season on the track.
Bill Riley managed a hand-picked crew from R&S to race one
of the two cars at Daytona, Sebring, and Petit Lemans that
year.
R&S was already building the first Cadillac Northstar LMP
prototype in 1999. That car first tested in September 1999
and debuted at Daytona in February of 2000. After
exhibiting typical teething issues at Daytona, the cars
struggled for results against the dominant Audis at
Sebring and Lemans. R&S and GM parted ways at the end of
the year.
Riley & Scott produced the Mk VIII IRL racing car in 1999
and 2000. The first customer, Hemelgarn Racing, had
finished 3d in the IRL championship in 1999 (the team,
with driver Buddy Lazier, won the Indianapolis 500 in
1996). Other Mk VII customers included Walker Racing (for
driver Sarah Fisher) and Team Cheever (1998 Indy 500
winner Eddie Cheever).
At the opening race of the 2000 championship at Orlando,
Buddy and Eddie were running 1-2 with 5 laps remaining. An
historic debut was spoiled by backmarkers, as Robby Buhl
expertly used traffic to pass both R&S cars.
That misfortune was righted at the next race in Phoenix.
After an unsatisfying qualifying effort, Hemelgarn elected
to withdraw its primary car and start Buddy in the backup
R&S from the very back of the grid. Buddy carved his way
through the field to win the race, the first and only time
an IRL driver has gone "worst to first".
Although Buddy went on to win the championship, the R&S
proved insufficiently developed for the Speedway. The
teams shelved their R&S chassis, qualified for the 500 in
other cars, and R&S was once more out of the IRL.
The story of sports car racing in the last two years is
simple ­ Audi. Audiıs commitment, F1-level budgets, and
the results that they have achieved have all been
chronicled elsewhere.
Among privateers, however, the Mk III has persisted and
continued to win. 2000 brought the inaugural season of the
Grand American Road Racing Association, founded on
principles of lower-cost, more-equal competition.
Dyson Racing (6) and Robinson Racing (1) each won Grand Am
races in 2000. Dyson was team champion, and James Weaver
was driver champion. Grand Am also established a
manufacturerıs championship, which was won by Riley &
Scott.
In 2001, the Mk III remained a vital part of the Grand Am
series. Seven of the chassis were on the grid at Daytona,
including chassis 001, an amazing six years after it first
competed in that event. Although motor woes again dropped
the cars from the overall podium at Daytona, they
continued to dominate in the series.
Dyson Racing won the team championship, and James Weaver
and Butch Leitzinger won five races and finished first and
second in the driverıs championship. Riley & Scott won the
manufacturerıs championship over Lola and Ferrari.
Heading into 2002, there is no doubt that Grand Am races
will once again feature Riley & Scott Mk IIIs at the front
of the grid and on the podium ­ joined this time by
younger siblings.
In both Grand Am and ALMS, the new Mk IIIC, which Dyson
debuted at Sebring in 2001, will compete for race wins and
championships. This site will chronicle the story of the
Jim Matthews Racing/ Riley & Scott partnership as the
factory returns to prototype racing in 2002.
After the completion of our work with GM, longtime
customers saw an opportunity to engage R&S in new
projects. A new Mk III, the Series C, was designed and
production began on cars for Dyson Racing and Robinson
Racing. Tom Gloy, who had purchased one of the first R&S
Mk I chassis, asked the company to design and build a new
car for that series. The car was ready in July and
competed in the last three rounds of the championship,
beginning at Mid-Ohio in August.
Bill Riley accompanied the Tom Gloy Racing team to each
event. At Mid-Ohio, Tony Ave drove the new car as an
"extra" TGR entry. Tony qualified third and was running
top five when the gearbox broke.
Defending Series champion Brian Simo drove the car for the
first time in the next race at Laguna Seca. Brianıs
qualifying time was disallowed on a technicality, and he
was forced to start in the rear of the grid. Brian cut
through the field of 24 cars to finish second to Justin
Bell. The car had proven its superiority. At the season
closer in the streets of Houston, Brian again finished
second to Justin Bell.
ROC
Cars - Reynard 2KQ-Volkswagen
Web Site - Unable to find information online
Roock Racing
Cars - GT2
Web Site - http://www.roockusa.com/
Founded in 1984, the ROOCK Sportsystem family business
focuses entirely on Porsche. The Leverkusen, Germany (just
outside of Cologne) based company specializes in racing,
developing unique high quality products and performance
tuning programs for several Porsche models. In 1999, ROOCK
Sportsystem moved its operations to Braselton, Georgia
(just outside of Atlanta) to form ROOCK North America,
LLC.
ROOCK Motorsport is Europe's most successful Porsche
customer racing team, with five Championship titles in
less than seven years and victories at 24 Hours of Le Mans
and the Daytona 24 Hours. Our passion for racing is the
main reason the company is conveniently located at the
Road Atlanta race course.
ROOCK has worldwide sales and distribution facilities in
North America, Europe and Japan.
It all began in 1990 when ROOCK Racing was approached by a
customer to maintain his club racing Porsche. At the end
of the season, the customer's car finished fifth in the
championship and Michael and Fabian were hooked on racing.
Not only were they passionate about the competitiveness,
but they also has a vision for a future business
opportunity.
Fabian ROOCK intensified his links to motor racing. After
each step on the ladder of success and victory, ROOCK
Racing set out for new challenges and made it clear that
ROOCK was a hungry new team with a great racing future
ahead with victories at Le Mans 24 Hours, Daytona 24
Hours, and FIA GT World Championships.
In mid-1999, ROOCK ventured to step over to the United
States to campaign in the Le Mans Series.
Sauber
Cars - Sauber C9
Web Site - http://www.sauber.ch/
At first sight, the small town of Hinwil in the Zurich
Highlands is probably not the place you would expect to
find a highly developed Formula One centre, equipped to
the finest technical detail. But appearances are
deceptive: It is only a few steps from the workshop, in
which the now 58-year-old Peter Sauber started his company
in 1970, that the high-tech cars, which have been
competing in the Formula One World Championship since
1993, are built.
The development of high technologies and their function
under race pressure within the field of motor racing has
always fascinated Peter Sauber. While back then three of
his current competitors were already active in Formula
One, Peter Sauber started off quite modestly by comparison
with the sporting variation of the legendary Volkswagen
Beetle.
SMG
Cars - Courage C 60-Judd
Web Site - Unable to find information online
Team Augusta Racing
Cars - GT2
Web Site - Unable to find information online
Team Cadillac
Cars - Cadillac N LMP
Web Site - http://www.cadillaceurope.com/
The new racing season is here and the Cadillac Team is
excellently prepared for toughest competition in the ALMS
on the race tracks of America and of course, Le Mans.
Since the end of last season the team worked hard on the
second generation Cadillac LMP 02. It was designed under
the direction of GM Racing engineers by Nigel Stroud. Herb
Fishel, executive director of GM racing comments: "Very
seldom in racing can you talk about a program in its third
year and say that you have an all-new race car, but that
is exactly the case with the Cadillac LMP 02. The Cadillac
LMP 02 marks a new beginning for Team Cadillac with a
state-of-the-art race car."
Two teams of three international endurance racing stars,
each with Le Mans experience, have been named to drive the
brand-new Cadillac Northstar LMPs in 2002. Team Cadillac
is backed for the third straight year by a distinguished
list of supporters, including: ACDelco, Bose HiFi systems,
Compuware, GMAC Financial Services, Michelin, Mobil 1,
Northstar System, Tehama and On Star.
American Wayne Taylor, Italian Max Angelelli and Frenchman
Christophe Tinseau will drive Cadillac Northstar LMP No.
5. Finnish JJ Lehto will join Frenchmen Eric Bernard and
Emmanuel Collard in the No. 6 Cadillac Northstar LMP.
As final preparation for the start of the season the team
will run a 26-day test schedule which includes several 24
hour endurance tests. And on March 16th, the team and all
six drivers will give the Cadillac Northstar LMP 02 its
race debut.
Team Dams
Cars - Cadillac N LMP
Web Site - http://www.dams.fr/
The DAMS Formula 3000 and GT motor racing Team was the
creation of Jean-Paul Driot, in 1998. Prior to this Jean
Paul was a business partner with formula one driver Rene
Amoux. At the start of the team very first season DAMS
established that they were a top team with Eric Comas
driving the DAMS Lola, equalling the points with Jean
Alesi. With Comas and Alesi on equal points the
Championship went to Jean Alesi because he had more wins.
The next year the DAMS Team went on to become
International Formula 3000 Champions with Eric Comas in
only the teams third year.
Today in 1998, DAMS obtained 3 World Championship Crowns
in Formula 3000 with Comas, Olivier Panis, and Bouillon,
and has a total of 20 wins. Also 8 of DAMS drivers have
made the very difficult step up to the Formula One
Championship.
After the success of the Formula 3000 Racing Team DAMS
commenced on a design and feasibility study to enter
Formula One Grand Prix Racing. This project was the first
engineering partnership between DAMS and Reynard Racing
Cars. Unfortunately the project was stopped after two
years because of lack of sponsorship in France.
The next large step in the creation of DAMS was at the end
of 1996 when Jean-Paul DRIOT signed a contract with Don
PANOZ to run his Panoz GTI car for the next two years in
the 171A World GTI Championship, and Le Mans. This is also
a joint project with Reynard Racing Cars.
After having made the big manufacturers tremble with the
impressionable Panoz in the FIA-GT World Championships,
DAMS Team took on a new challenge in 1999 with an open
prototype. Having never worked on this particular kind of
car, the technical team drew on its GT experience to give
their drivers a very competitive LOLA T98/10 complete with
JUDD motor. In his first run at the Monza Sport Prototype
World Cup race, Eric BERNARD took the pole position and
was quickly imitated by fellow team-mate, Jean-Marc
GOUNON, one month later at Spa. The unreliability of this
very young car eventually deprived DAMS of 2 assured
victories at the end of races which were dominated mostly
by DAMS. Race after race innovations and continuous
development strengthened the reliability of the car and in
the second half of the season DAMS took 4 victories, which
did not go unnoticed by the world's first automobile
constructor, General Motors, at the dawn of the 2000
season....
For 2 years, DAMS has joined General Motors Le Mans Sports
Car program and runs the Cadillac LMP at Le Mans, FIA
World Cup and American Le Mans Series.
In 2000 the 2 Cadillac - DAMS Northstar LMP ran in 10
races including the 24 Hours of Le Mans where the car of
BERNARD/COLLARD/MONTAGNY held the 4th place until 3 hours
before race finish when suspension broke.
The Executive Management of General Motors who was
impressed by the performances and the professionalism of
the Team designated DAMS as the Cadillac Factory Team for
Le Mans 2001. After making a great improvement of 5
seconds in qualifying (compared to 2000 qualifying time),
DAMS kept GM aim of being in the fastest Teams, inside of
the top 5, until the last hour of the race when the clutch
broke.
Team Den Bla
Cars - Panoz LMP-1
Web Site - http://www.team.den-blaa-avis.dk/
Team Den Blaa Avis Ltd. was established before the 1997
season with the aim of placing Denmark on the map in the
world of motorsports. It is Denmarks first truly
professional racing team, and has managed to establish
itself at the top of European motor racing in only four
years. Together with Danish driver Jason Watt, the team
succeded in winning two prestigius Formula 3000 races; Spa
in 1997 and Imola in 1998, and in 1999, the team, now in
the colours of partner Petrobras, took a fantastic 1-2 win
at Hockenheim and finished third in the Teams Competition.
This association continued in 2000 with even greater
succes, as Brazilian Bruno Junqueira won the Championship
in convincing style.
In the year 2000 Team Den Blaa Avis also entered sportscar
racing with two Panoz Roadsters in the classic Le Mans
event. It was another highpoint for Team Den Blaa Avis
Ltd., and is seen as a step in the teams efforts to
consolidate itself in the highly-charged world of
international motor racing The team has already proved
that it posses the nessecery people, financial and
techical means to succeed.
Team Goh
Cars - Chrysler Viper GTS-R
Web Site - http://www.teamgoh.com/
Unfortunately, this site is entirely in Japanese... a
language I cannot read :-(
Team Marcos
Cars - Marcos Mantara LM600
Web Site - http://www.marcosracingusa.com/
Marcos Racing International brings style, speed and
success to any racetrack. The stylish Marcos Mantis Plus
draws a crowd in every paddock with its sleek, daring
design. The 400 horsepower car is powered by a Ford 4.6
litre V8 engine, making the Mantis Plus a fierce
competitor on the track.
The Marcos Mantis Plus is based on Marcos Cars' Mantis
road car. With over 40 years of sports car development and
production to support them, Marcos Racing has what it
takes to build a successful racecar.
The Mantis Plus is a more competitive model of the car
that raced in Europe's Mantis Challenge. Marcos Racing has
more than proven itself both in Europe and the United
States, winning numerous championships and proving that
Marcos can pose a formidable challenge to other popular
manufacturers, including Porsche, BMW and Ferrari.
In 2000, Marcos Racing won the British GT, Spanish GT
championships and the Suzuka 1000K race in Japan. They
continued their success the following season, beginning
with a trip over to the United States to compete in one of
the world's most famous endurance race the ROLEX 24 at
Daytona.
At the 2001 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the two-car team of
Marcos Racing finished fourth and fifth in the competitive
GTS class. For the first several hours of the race, the
team even challenged the overall race-winning Corvette
team.
The 2001 season was also a development year for Marcos
Racing. A new version of the Marcos Mantara LM600 EVO was
developed with the Marcos Mantis Plus GT in hopes of
dominating both production classes in 2002.
The Marcos Mantis Plus will find a new home with the
Grand-American Road Racing Series in 2002. The car will
compete in the challenging GT class.
With such a successful history of racing, the Marcos
Mantis Plus is sure to be a popular car with fans and
racers alike in 2002. Fans in the United States will be
delighted to see a car as exotic as the Mantis Plus at
road courses that are famous for attracting the best
sports cars in the world.
Team Oreca
Cars - Chrysler Viper GTS-R
Chrysler Viper GTS-RT
Web Site - http://www.orecaracing.com/
No history available on this French-language site
Team Rafanelli
Cars - Lola B2K10-Judd
Web Site - http://www.teamrafanelli.com/
The team was created in 1987 as Team Bigazzi; its name
was changed in 1998. Major events:
- 1992: Won 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
- 1994: Won 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
- 1995: Won 24 Hours of Nurburgring
- 1996: Won 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
Won BPR GT Series
- 1997: Won Brasilia 1000 Miles Race
Won MACAU Guja Grand Prix
- 2000: Started on Pole Position at 24 Hours of Spa-
Francorchamps
Thomas Bscher Promotion
Cars - BMW V12 LM
Web Site - Unable to find information online
TV Asahi Team Dragon
Cars - Panoz LMP-1
Web Site - Unable to find information online
Welter Gerard
Cars - WR LMP-Peugeot
Web Site - Unable to find information online
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